Portable medical diagnostic equipment can be carried by a doctor or by other medical personnel to provide quick access when needed to examine a patient. Additionally, such devices are generally kept in a pocket or attached to other standard equipment, so that they do not get misplaced and are available whenever needed. These devices must be capable of assisting a medical professional when testing the hearing and nervous system capabilities of a particular patient. These devices must also be reliable. It is an advantage of these devices to be capable of providing more than one function, such as that of an auditory testing device as well as providing tactile stimulation for testing nervous system reactions. Therefore, it is beneficial if such devices can be capable of housing both tools in one piece of equipment, which can be easily transported and readily accessible to medical professionals. It can also be beneficial if such devices contain a self-contained power source, which can provide a sufficient amount of power and be controlled and accurately provide the correct amplitude and frequency of sound waves to properly examine the patient. Additionally, it is beneficial if such devices can provide an indicator informing the user when power is getting low, before the device ceases to operate correctly.
Davis U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,533, describes a “Portable Audiometer Enclosed within a Patient Response Mechanism Housing.” As with the present device, the Davis invention describes a portable diagnostic device that generates tones for the purpose of assessing the hearing capacity of an individual. However, the Davis invention, while capable of determining the hearing capacity of a person, does so through a complicated method and is not conducive to making a quick determination as to whether a patient has impaired hearing. Additionally, this device does not provide any other medical assessment tools other than the audiometer. Furthermore, the patented device does not comprise a warning that the battery power is getting low or that the tonal generating features of the instruments will be useless in the near future.
Mann U.S. Pat. No. 1,634,373, existing in the prior art, describes an “Electronic Therapeutic Device.” The Mann patent describes a device for use in the medical profession, which provides tactile stimulation to a patient. The device can provide vibration, heat and eddy currents, which are used to strengthen and build human tissue. This patent discusses the use of vibration to stimulate the tactile receptors of a person. However, the Mann patent is used to provide stimulation for a long period of time, so that it can strengthen a particular area of the body. It would be impracticable to use this device as a diagnostic tool to determine the neurological responsiveness of a patient because it has a large surface area and cannot be used to create a response to a small area of stimulation. Additionally, this device does not provide any other diagnostic tools that would help a medical professional in determining other aspects of a patient's health. Furthermore, the device disclosed in the Mann patent uses a corded power source and is not easily portable.
There are other patents that disclose portable medical vibratory tactile stimulation devices, which are powered through the use of batteries, such as Iwamoto U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,582 for a “hand-held vibratory massager.” This invention uses vibration to massage the skin. However, it is designed to allow a person to massage hard to reach areas such as his own back. This design in not easily used by a medical professional to stimulate the skin of a patient to observe the neurological response. Additionally, the portion of this device that supplies vibration to a portion of the body has a large surface area. This large surface area cannot be used with certain medical diagnostic functions, such as the Babinski Reflex Test. Moreover, this device does not provide any indication as to the remaining battery power nor does it provide any other medical benefit other than vibration of the skin.
What is needed is a portable diagnostic instrument comprising an audiometer that can provide tones in a range of frequencies and can also be used for other medical diagnosis. The device must be able to produce sounds at an accurate pitch and amplitude, even when battery power is reduced. Additionally, a warning unit is needed to provide information about the remaining battery life to the user. Furthermore, a portable diagnostic device is needed that comprises a vibratory unit, which can be used to assess the sensory perception and neurological function of a patient.